Disclaimer: I do not own PotC, Disney does. I hope I didn't mangle their characters.
Captain Jack Sparrow flailed his way across a bridge, catching bullets and throwing them behind him as he ran. He took advantage of a large crowd in the streets to escape, blending in with them. They seemed to be mobbing something.
As he slipped through, he saw a dark-skinned girl being dragged away by three men. Anamaria? No, it couldn't be, the girl was slightly larger, and she was wearing such strange apparel. Of course, Jack wasn't one to say.
He didn't have time to say either. Behind him was the British army, bayonets held straight up, running in that funny way. Sometimes Jack imagined – if one soldier grew tired and lowered his bayonet, and dropped his head just so…there would be another customer for the eye patch makers.
Jack kept moving through the crowd, even quicker now that the redcoats had begun herding the mob away. They took the girl into their own hands, told the crowd to go gather some wood for her stake, and continued their search for Jack Sparrow.
Sushmita was taken to James Norrington. In that instant, she realized where she was. She gasped, and the soldier beside her reprimanded, "Silence, witch!" She shut up, not wanting to hasten her death. "Sir," the soldier continued, "We found the source of the mob. It's this native girl. They want to burn her at the stake."
"I don't eat steak," Sushmita interrupted, "And I'm not a native, I'm Indian-"
"What did I say, witch!?"
Quietly, Sushmita finished her sentence, "I'm a vegetarian. I don't eat meat…"
Norrington walked closer, "You don't eat meat. Gillette, fetch some irons…no, there's no time for irons. I don't think she'll run anyway." Gillette – as in the razors? "Well go on, go find Sparrow!"
"Yes sir!" Gillette and his men were off. Meanwhile, Norrington and Sushmita sat in a little veranda waiting for news. After several minutes, Sushmita grew bored.
"What do you do in your spare time, Mr. Norrington?"
"Commodore. I was promoted this morning," James smirked to himself as he sipped a cup of tea, "I doubt I will have time to spare now…" Remembering they were not alone, he added angrily, "There is never time to waste in the riddance of piracy."
"Commodore!" a young soldier ran up to the veranda, "They've found Sparrow, sir! He's just at the Blacksmith's." Norrington jumped up and motioned for all to follow him.
"And the girl, sir?"
"Take her with you."
The doors burst open and hung there, creaking after the last redcoat had filed through. Norrington, at the head, looked disdainfully down at the lax body on the floor, "Excellent work, Mr. Brown. You've assisted in the capture of a dangerous fugitive."
Mr. Brown held up his shattered rum bottle, "Just doing my civic duty sir," he rasped. Even though he had not been in the swordfight, his face was just as orange as Will's standing next to him.
The blacksmith's apprentice disliked Mr. Brown, to be sure, but kept quiet in the way that he had been taught all his life. His life, in his mind, began the day he had met Elizabeth Swann, the governor's daughter. Although on outward appearance he always called her Miss Swann, he thought of her secretly as his Elizabeth. Will did not think that he would ever love another as much as he loved her. And so he pined over her, taking all his affection out on the many swords and horseshoes he made. Occasionally, he would pat the donkey on the head. The donkey had no name, as neither Will nor Mr. Brown had much of an imagination. They were like pirates in that manner.
Norrington nodded. "Take him away." Two soldiers stepped forth, eager to please the new Commodore, and lifted Jack Sparrow away.
"What about the girl sir? Should we take her to the fort as well?"
Like the red sea and two same-poled magnets, the soldiers parted and Will spotted a young dark girl wearing the strangest attire. She hardly looked like a woman, especially with those rough trousers she wore.
Norrington thought about it, "Lock her away for now. Separate from Sparrow; I may wish to question her later."
"The people will certainly be happy sir. A burning and a hanging. Delightful. We might as well make it a double feature."
When they marched Sushmita into the jail, they also gave her some gruel. Hungry, Sushmita poked her finger into it, sloshing it about. Normally she could smell meat, but what with several prisoners having died in their cells, she couldn't tell what it was she was smelling anymore.
"Excuse me…" she asked Jack Sparrow, who was sleeping with his hat over his head. "Jack Sparrow?"
"Captain," he mumbled angrily, "What?"
"Um, I was wondering if there was meat in this."
"Meat in what?" He sat up, and saw the gruel, "You wouldn't want to know the ingredients of that."
"I have to, I can't eat meat."
Jack looked her, stunned that anyone would turn down meat. It was the heart and soul of his life, other than rum, the sea, and the Pearl.
"You could not eat it, but-"
"I would starve…"
"Yup."
There was silence. From above, Sushmita could hear the muffled voices of Commodore Norrington and Governor Swann.
"Has my…daughter given you an answer yet?" Their voices slipped in and out of hearing range. Suddenly, there was cannon fire right outside the walls.
"Cannon fire! Return fire!" Norrington yelled. Soldiers scrambled to get to the top of the fort and return the attack.
Jack jumped up, full of life again, and peered through the window high up in the wall. "It's the Pearl," he said, love for his ship almost dripping off every word.
"The Black Pearl?" Another pirate in the cell over asked, afraid, "I've heard stories. She's been preying on ships and settlements for near ten years. Never leaves any survivors," he added in an attempt at an ominous tone.
"No survivors? Then where do the stories come from, I wonder?" You're looking at him, Jack smirked, knowing exactly where they came from.
A cannonball broke a hole in the jail. Unfortunately, it wasn't anywhere near Sushmita's cell. She sighed, dejected. Jack wandered over to the hole in his cell just as dejectedly, for it was hardly big enough for him to climb through. The pirates in the cell over however, tittered excitedly and escaped while they could. "My sympathies friend, you've no manner of luck at all."
Feeling that way, Jack and Sushmita sat silently in their cells, their only hope being that the chaos caused tonight would delay their deaths by another day. Jack however, was not one to give up so quickly on matters so small. He stared at the mutton bone the pirates had been waving around earlier, and an idea came to mind. Grabbing it, he waved the bone around, "Come on doggy, it's just you and me now, it's you and ol' Jack."
Sushmita coughed. Jack looked at her, then corrected his sentence. "It's you and ol' Jack and…?"
"Sushmita."
"and Sush…mita. Come on. Come on, good boy." The dog moved closer. "That's a good boy, come on! Bit closer, bit closer. That's it, that's it doggy." Sushmita couldn't contain her laughter. She snorted and Jack glared at her, "Come on, you filthy, slimy, mangy cur," he growled, sounding much tougher.
There was a crash and the dog ran off. "No no, I didn't mean it! I didn't –" A prison guard fell down the stairs, followed by two ugly pirates.
"This ain't the armory!" The white one said, annoyed.
By then, the taller, black pirate with dreadlocks had seen Jack Sparrow. "Well, well, well. Look what we 'ave here, Twigg. Captain Jack Sparrow." Twigg turned around, Jack's name being of extreme interest to him.
"Last time I saw you, you were all alone, shrinking into the distance."
The black pirate spotted Sushmita, and approached her, "And look, Twigg. Look what a little prize the navy's kept for us." Sushmita backed up into the farthest corner. "Where are the keys?"
Jack piped up, "The dog. The dog has the keys." Sushmita stared at him in horror. He was telling the pirates how to reach her?
The black pirate smirked at Jack. He grunted at Twigg to get the dog. Twigg grabbed the dog and took the keys out of its mouth. Only, the dog wouldn't let go. Twigg pulled and pulled, but the dog held on. Sushmita held her breath, hoping that the pirate would give up.
